Archive for the ‘car crash’ Category

Turned on its side, a wheel missing, various engine items thrown about, and the passenger seat ejected. How any person could walk away from such a horrific crash is mindboggling, but that’s exactly how things went for the unknown driver of the Chevy Corvette Z06 that you see above. As of now, details are scant, but a handful of pictures posted by Thomas Minnear on Facebook show the aftermath of a crash that was likely facilitated not only by speed but by excessively worn tires as easily noticed by shots taken of the tire that came off during the accident. Even without an official police report, it’s pretty easy to see that the driver of this car was quite lucky to have walked away.

Mr. Minnear posted what has to be the most relevant comment of the year along with the photos: “I’d say his angel was riding shotgun.” That’s pretty much an understatement considering the fact that the driver has reportedly walked away and, had there been a passenger (other than a guardian angel, of course,) they probably wouldn’t have been so lucky. In the end, the driver’s ego is tarnished, his car destroyed, his angel scared shitless, but in the end, he and those in the house still have their life, so you could say things managed to work out. Keep reading to hear our thoughts and see a full gallery from the accident.

You’ve Gotta Keep Up on Maintenance

“In the end, the driver’s ego is tarnished, his car destroyed, his angel scared shitless, but in the end, he and those in the house still have their life”

It may be said that the driver lost his car but, as they say, Karma is a bitch. In this case, it’s quite likely that the driver was traveling at higher speeds. I wouldn’t necessarily say extremely excessive, but he wasn’t going slow either. Despite the fact that the passenger seat, alternator, coolant reservoir, one wheel, a brake caliper, part of the exhaust, and various body parts were thrown about, one critical piece of information is given from the pictures at hand: The driver didn’t take care of his Vette as well as he should have. Just look at the condition of those tires. Those summer tires aren’t what we would call being “in the best condition,” and are really teetering on the line of being unsafe altogether. Even if the driver was going, say a speed of 55 mph, which may have been legal, he probably didn’t stand much of a chance in a hard turn or on a slick surface.

In the end, everyone (except for maybe his guardian angel, that is) came out without serious injury, so that’s the most important thing. What do you all think about this accident? Without being there and just looking at the pictures, can you tell us what happened? We’re curious to hear your thoughts.

We all know the Nurburgring is one of the most dangerous tracks in the world. Mixing maximum speed with huge elevation changes, blind corners, and highly technical challenges, it’s no wonder Jackie Stewart dubbed this place The Green Hell. Throw in a slick racing surface and open lapping with amateurs, and things can get really ugly. Case in point, this 2-minute, 8-second video showing a first-person perspective of an incident that occurred earlier in the month, wherein a group of cars create a massive pileup around a fast section leading to Hatzenbach. After spotting cars stopped on track and a huge cloud of smoke, the driver shooting the video pulls off to the outside of the track, exiting his vehicle before attempting to flag down incoming cars and warn about the impending parking lot. Some cars manage to avoid crashing, while others spin out helplessly. One Porsche even slides backwards into the stationary racer that the cameraman had exited just moments prior.

The video was originally posted to Facebook by RE FS420, and has been making the rounds on the internet ever since. According to BridgeToGantry.com,
the original cause of the incident was a blown coolant hose on a 911 GT3 RS, which spilled fluid on the track, resulting in several drivers losing control. In total, 14 cars were involved, with two drivers requiring hospitalization, one of which needed to be cut free from his Audi and airlifted to emergency care.

It’s a chilling reminder of what can go wrong when pushing a car to its limits. Stay safe out there, folks.

References

Whether you’ve got a nasty case of triskaidekaphobia, an unbridled passion for slasher movies or you’re just a little superstitious, seeing Friday the 13th pop up on your calendar can elicit a sense of dread and gloom. October is the second month of 2017 to see the 13th day fall on a Friday; the first having already passed us in January. But, the question is this – is there any truth to the bad-luck association? The Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics would say no, given a study it released in 2008 that found the average rate of traffic accidents in the Netherlands actually fell on Friday the 13th, presumably because people drove more carefully or simply chose not to drive at all. Regardless, it got us thinking – what car stuff out there is considered unlucky?

After poking around a little bit, we found a couple of excellent examples from the world of motorsport, as well as a few statistics to consider before buying that used car you’ve been eyeing. And, we wanna know – what unlucky car stories do you have? Tell us all about it in the comments below!

Continue reading for some unlucky car stories.

Toyota Breaks At Le Mans… Again

Heading into this year’s iconic 24-hour race, it looked like Toyota would finally, mercifully, walk away with a win. 2017 saw the Japanese manufacturer looking stronger than ever, with a trio of cutting-edge TS050 hybrids on the grid, pole position secured, and even a lap record to boot. 10 hours into the race, Toyota was in the lead and looking to push ahead of the chasing Porsche.

Then – disaster. Following an extended safety car period, clutch issues struck the #7 Toyota, leaving it stuck in first gear. The car never even made it back to the pits. Almost immediately afterward, an LMP2 car collided with the second-place #9 Toyota. Meanwhile, the #8 Toyota was stuck towards the back, 30 laps down on the leaders following an extensive engine rebuild.

To make matters worse, the heartbreaking loss was an agonizing repeat of last year’s Le Mans race, wherein the leading #5 TS050 broke down on the front straight with just a single lap remaining.

Max Verstappen And The RB13 Formula 1

Our next bad-luck auto comes from the world of Formula 1. As we all know, the technology in play in this sport is finicky at best, and sometimes, that temperamental persona turns to misery for the drivers.

Max Verstappen knows this well. A string of DNF’s has left the Red Bull driver sitting on the sidelines for much of the 2017 season. Sometimes, he can’t even complete a double-digit number of laps before something breaks. Most of it boils down to mechanical issues, although occasionally, it’s a collision with another car. Or a bad pit stop. Or any other number of bad luck occurrences.

Thankfully, it looks like Max’s luck might be turning around, with a win at the Malaysian Grand Prix earlier this month, plus a third-place finish in China back in April. Hopefully, the worst of his luck is over.

What’s The Accident History?

We all know how important it is to look into a used car’s background before taking the plunge and handing over the check. However, not all accidents are reported, but thankfully, Wikilender managed to compile statistics on both reported and unreported accidents to compile a list of “10 Cars most likely to have been in an accident.” You can check out the full list here, but long story short, you may wanna be wary of scooping up a used BMW 4 Series or X1.

Imagine for a minute that you’re a Tesla salesman and beautiful San Francisco, California and just got back from your overpriced lunch. You take a deep breath and smell the air that is the glory of your liberated EV showroom. You’ve had a good week so far, sold a couple of cars, then all of the sudden: BAM, Crash, Smack. You look up, and there’s a Mercedes SLK staring you in the face with a (presumably) scared senior citizen behind the wheel rocking out to AC/DC and sporting his bald-man mullet. What the hell just happened here? Well, as much as I would like to report that some Mercedes driver has just had enough with all of this damn EV, ICE-killing drama that’s plaguing the automotive market place, I really have to report that this old man simply made a huge mistake while attempting to overtake some vehicles but using a bus lane.

As the story goes, our old friend was hoping to pass some traffic in a bus lane, but as it turns out that bus lane was about to end. He said that he thought it was a third lane, but come on – we all know better. He then panicked and tried to hit the brake, but put the accelerator to the floor instead. As a result, he jumped a curb, smucked a tree, shot across a crosswalk, took out a mail box, sign, and traffic control box, then wedge his SLK into a Tesla showroom. Fortunately, and we’re not sure how, nobody was seriously injured, but the Tesla showroom is now tasked with replacing a pair of ridiculously large 15-foot tall glass windows. A BMW 5 Series did take some minor damage as a result of the accident too, but it will likely drive another day. As for that SLK, well, It’s not likely it’ll see the light of day again.

On a different note, I have to say this vaguely reminds me of a certain South Park episode that addressed the concern with old folks behind the wheel. Now, not all seniors are bad drivers – I’m not going to be the guy that claims that – but this guy should certainly get an award for reminding us to watch out for Grandpa when he’s trying to find the nearest buffet, don’t you think? Check out the video that shows off the aftermath of this crazy accident below.

News surrounding Hurricane Harvey has been constantly flowing since the Category Three storm poured trillions of gallons of rainwater onto the coast of Texas over several days. Metro Huston and its surrounding areas are among the hardest hit. Among the more than 66 people dead and an estimated 44,000 homes flooded, nearly a million vehicles were lost to flood waters.

Images tell the clearest story, with photos of submerged cars lining once-busy Interstates and the aftermath of muddy water soaking into every nook and void within a car’s interior. Of the photos we’ve seen, the saddest are of antique and performance cars, including a vintage Porsche 911, several Corvettes and Vipers, and even a few late-model Ferraris. Of course, a flooded vehicle is legally required to be listed as such on its title, warning would-be buyers about its time under water. While we’re happy to see vintage and high-dollar vehicles get restored and retitled appropriately, some flood cars will be shadily repaired and sold on the pre-owned market with no indication to the buyer. This is most commonly done with average vehicles like pickups,SUVs, and family cars. The most recent large-scale case of this happening was Hurricane Sandy that hit New York and New Jersey in 2012. Hurricane Harvey will undoubtedly see the same illegal activity in its wake.

Unfortunately, we expect to see similar photos from Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

A wedding is supposed to be one of the happiest days in a person’s life. It’s especially important for the bride and groom, though I can argue that guests can have their own version of fun at these events. Unfortunately, things can still go awry, as one person will attest after crashing a rented McLaren 650S into a tree in what could very well be one of the most ill-timed and expensive attempts at showing off.

Specific details on what happened are still unclear, but the end result is as crystal as they come. The rented McLaren 650S incurred significant damage because the driver thought it was a good idea to mess around with the supercar’s launch control figure. I’m not sure if the driver didn’t know the purpose of launch control or he just made a mistake in engaging it; it doesn’t matter now either way. The point is that because of his tomfoolery, the 650S’ front end is barely recognizable after smooching with the tree. The hood looks like a crumpled piece of paper and both air bags actually deployed. All of that means that the 650S probably launched close to where the tree was and the suddenness of the car’s acceleration startled the driver, leaving him with precious little time to correct his error to at least avoid hitting the tree.

I don’t know who’s going to have to foot the bill for the supercar’s repairs, but I can tell you that given its state, I wouldn’t be surprised if the cost of repairs goes up to six figures. Lesson learned, folks. There’s no harm in renting a McLaren 650S for a wedding and then proudly show it off to all the other guests. Just make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. And don’t forget to purchase the best insurance policy at the rental counter.

These days lawsuits are passed around like dirty diapers, with every American looking to hold someone responsible for anything they can think of. But it also comes down to people not wanting to take responsibility for their own stupidity, either. Just think of all the frivolous lawsuits surrounding Tesla, and its AutoPilot software – most of these were complete crap, and people didn’t want to admit they drove their car into their own house. Well, the same thing boils down to texting and driving, with people wanting to blame phone manufacturers for not doing something to block distracted driving. In this case, I’m talking about Apple, and the lawsuit brought against the company by David Riggs, whose son was unfortunately killed way too soon by someone who was texting and driving. That lawsuit has been withstanding for a while now, but it’s finally coming to a close.

Whether or not Apple has really put profits above safety remains to be seen but, much like the case from 2016 that said it was unreasonable that Apple be held “responsible for ultimate harm,” the Judge ruled in Apple’s favor for this case as well and dismissed this lawsuit, ultimately saying that blaming of the fatal accident on Apple was “attenuated.” The case was thrown out and cannot be filed under the same claim again. The driver that was responsible for the accident was charged with a misdemeanor for using his iPhone while driving, but Riggs ultimately wanted to put the blame on Apple. For now, it looks like Riggs will have to look somewhere else to place blame, and should perhaps consider going after the person responsible for the accident… just a thought.

It’s summer time, which means the weather is hot, the beer is cold, and the grille is a burnin’. Imagine an amazing weekend with the wife at the beach or park, cooking up your favorite grill food, and enjoying the nice August weather. Sounds amazing doesn’t it – maybe hide away the phone and laptop of a day, just enjoy each other’s company and the scenery around you. Eventually, all good things come to an end, though, so at some point, you have to pack up your car and head back to reality. There isn’t much worse than dreading going to work on Monday after having such a wonderful Sunday, but things can always be worse as one Florida couple found out when their trip home from such a day turned explosive.

Apparently, the couple packed all their belongings, including their grill, into their Kia Sorrento and embarked on their trip home. Well, as any smoker will tell you, it almost comes naturally to light up once you get in the car – assuming you smoke in your car, anyway. Well, this particular day, hubby had a brain fart and forgot to turn off the propane to the grill. As the couple started to pull away from wherever they were at, whoever was sitting in the passenger seat decided to say hello to Mr. Marlboro. Well, since someone neglected to turn off the propane, that quick hello to Mr. Marlboro got this couple close enough to God to shine his shoes. The spark from the lighter that was intended to light up that cowboy killer also ignited all of the gas that had expelled into the vehicle since the grill was loaded up. How the couple didn’t smell the propane is beyond any logic we can come up with.

I have to admit that it can be fun to watch cars crash, at least when nobody gets hurt, anyway. Every now and then, however, it’s actually painful to watch, especially when the car is rare and has an important history. And, such is the case with Pat Doran’s beast of a Ford RS200 EVO. If the RS200 name sounds familiar, that’s because Ford built it between 1984 and 1986. It was a homologation special that was produced in just 200 examples and was powered by a 1.8-liter four-cylinder that was good for around 250 horsepower. It was built by Ford of Great Britain, but that’s not the car you’re about to see get literally ripped to pieces – no; this is an RS200 Evolution, a Group B rally car that was built in just 24 examples.

Unfortunately, this is one of those cars that you don’t want to see crash, but as Doran was attempting to negotiate a rather tight turn on the hill, he went off the road just a bit and ended up losing control. At first, it looked as if he was going to save it, but the momentum was just a little too much and his rear quarter nailed a bale of hay, practically ripping the rear end right apart. The car didn’t exactly fare well, be Doran survived the incident without injury and even took a bow before stepping away from what was left of his treasured RS200. Whether or not the car is repairable or not remains to be seen, but with any luck, it’s salvageable. Keep reading to see the crash and to learn a little more about the RS200 Evolution.

By now, you’ve probably heard that Richard Hammond was involved in a horrific crash over the weekend in Switzerland. From what’s been reported, Hammond was filming with the rest of his Grand Tour mates when he lost control of the Rimac Concept One, rolling it down a hill before landing on its roof. Hammond somehow escaped the wreckage on his own, before being helped off by Swiss paramedics. The electricsupercar, however, didn’t fare quite as well as it ended up catching fire and burning to a crisp. The specific details behind the crash have yet to be revealed, which is probably why the FIA is stepping in to get some answers.

According to Motorsport, the governing body of motorsport racing is looking for answers from Auto Sport Schweiz on what caused the crash during the Hemberg Bergrennen event over the weekend. In a statement, the Swiss federation said that the FIA “has been forced to demand an opinion” from the Federation regarding the circumstances that happened before the crash and what led Hammond to losing control of the Concept One. Auto Sport Schweiz added that disciplinary proceedings could be handed down if it determines from its own investigation that certain parties failed to adhere to the safety standards put in place during the event. Obviously, there’s a lot more to this story than what’s been revealed, so while Hammond is fortunate to have survived the accident, some heads could still roll in the coming days.

Richard Hammond is lucky to be alive after losing control and rolling a Rimac Concept One while filming the second season of The Grand Tour on Sunday in Switzerland. He was able to escape the exotic car, despite it landing on its roof, just before the rare electricsupercar burst into flames. His left knee wasn’t so fortunate, however, with it sustaining serious bone fractures. Hammond was airlifted by Swiss emergency services to a nearby hospital where doctors are preparing for surgery. Hammond seems in good spirits in a short video update shot for Drive Tribe, Hammond, Clarkson, and May’s website. “Yes, it’s true,” Hammond says in the video. “I’ve binned it. Again.” Holding his X-ray, he says doctors are preparing to turn his knee into a “Swiss Army Knee.”

This isn’t the first time The Hamster has “binned” a vehicle while filming. In 2006 while shooting for Top Gear, Hammond suffered a brain injury when he lost control of a rocket-powered dragster. A speedy recovery allowed him to return to filming a few months later alongside Clarkson and James May. Thankfully, Hammond’s knee injury is far less life-threatening, and will hopefully require even less time to recover. We’ll bring you more news as it develops.

I feel sorry for all of you responsible Mustang owners out there; I really do. Some of you actually know how to drive a rear-wheel-drive Ford, but the very car you love has been forever tainted by the absurd number of idiots that keep crashing the damn things. Year after year, Mustangs die at the hands of drivers with no skill and even less intelligence, usually after a Cars & Coffee meet, but this most recent crash really takes the cake. Not because of when or where it happened, but because of the excuse the 24-year-old driver of the black Mustang you see above came up with. What was that excuse? Well, he supposedly swerved to avoid a squirrel, resulting in a pretty dramatic crash that tore up not only the Mustang but the minivan that he hit as well.

The accident happened on April 15, just before noon in West Shore, Pennsylvania near the 1,000 block of West Foxcroft Drive and Wormleysburg Borough. According to the small report released by the West Shore Regional Police Department, witnesses claimed the driver was traveling at high speed prior to the crash, which is easily noticeable given the damage to both vehicles involved. Apparently, nobody was hurt, and the van that was struck was unoccupied at the time of the crash. The driver was cited for “Driving Vehicle at Safe Speed” which is likely a typo in the report, and was likely written up as “Driving at an Unsafe Speed.” For now, the offending squirrel remains at large and is likely hunting his next victim at this very moment.

Update: Exclusive interview with Cranky the Squirrel shines some light on last weekend’s big Mustang accident. Keep reading to hear his side of the story.

Look – cars are dangerous. They’re big and heavy and capable of propelling the human body to incredible speeds. However, unlike a motorcycle, cars enclose the driver in a protective cage of metal, and they use four wheels to keep from falling over, making them much, much safer than a motorcycle. Former Top Gear co-host and current The Grand Tour co-host Richard Hammond recently demonstrated this fact by eating a bit of the road while riding his motorcycle during a shoot.

Over on DriveTribe, the social media complement to The Grand Tour, Hammond made a post about the crash entitled “I’ve Checked And I’m Not Dead,” saying, “It’s true, I did fall off a motorbike whilst filming recently for The Grand Tour in Mozambique. I banged my head, yes, along with pretty much everything else apart from my left thumb, which remains un-bruised. Can’t tell you more yet about the how and why of it; that’s all for later in the year on the show. As for injuries; well put it this way, I don’t think I can get a book out of it.”

That last bit is a reference to “On the Edge,” a bestseller Hammond wrote a few years back chronicling the high-speed crash he had in September of 2006 when piloting a jet-powered drag racer at 288 mph. That crash left Hammond in critical condition and put him in the hospital for five weeks, suffering serious brain trauma in the process. And while this more recent incident isn’t quite as severe, it’s still reason for concern.

This past weekend, the Goodwood Circuit hosted the 75th Members’ Meeting, which brought (as usual) an impressive lineup of classic and more recent race cars to the iconic British track. Unfortunately, this event also saw a highly collectible car leave the track and slam into an outside wall. I’m talking about a McLaren F1 GTR driven by none other than Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.

A fan of historic racing and noted classic car collector, Mason took his F1 GTR for a spin on the Goodwood track and things obviously didn’t work that well. Although the video doesn’t provide clues as to how the GTR slammed into the wall, it’s safe to assume that Mason lost control of the powerful race car and went spinning into the green. It doesn’t appear as if he was driving at high speed, but the damage is pretty extensive, with the front bumper, left fender, and left headlamp needing to be replaced now.

This isn’t necessarily an issue since McLaren still provides parts and even takes care of repair process, but bringing the car back to its original state will be pretty expensive. Especially if the suspension and electronics suffered damage too. Okay, so maybe Mason won’t have trouble paying for the repairs, but it’s still painful to see a rare car like this — only 28 were built — take damage. On the other hand, it’s actually good to see that Mason’s F1 GTR gets some track action instead of spending its life in a garage.

Mason, who recently turned 73, is a big classic and race car enthusiast, most known for owning various Ferraris. His collection includes one of the 39 Ferrari GTOs, an Enzo, and a 512S race car, among others.

Sometimes, heroism comes in the strangest of circumstances, and people who don’t consider themselves built in the mold of a Superman find themselves acting like one. Case in point: the 41-year old driver of a Tesla Model S who is hailed as a hero for intentionally causing damage to his pricey electricsedan, all in the name of saving the life of a total stranger.

According to German news outlet Muncher Merkur, the driver, named Manfred Kick, was on the German Autobahn when he chanced upon a Volkswagen Passat that was being driven erratically by its driver. The Passat even slammed into the guardrail a number of times. Curious to see what was going on, Kick pulled up alongside the Volkswagen only to notice that its driver was unconsciousness. From there, Kick sprung to action, accelerating his Model S and pulling in front of the Passat before slowly braking his car, making sure that the Passat could rest up against the rear bumper of his Model S until both cars came to a stop.

From there, Kick rushed to the Passat, climbed through the passenger door, and proceeded to give him first aid. It was then that another party hurried to the scene and called for emergency help. Once the fire department arrived on the scene, it determined that the unnamed driver of the Passat could have suffered a stroke while driving the car, rendering him unconscious.

But thanks to Kick’s quick thinking, the 47-year old Passat owner was taken to the hospital where, according to Muncher Merkur, he is now in stable condition.

Ironically enough, the police informed Kick that a preliminary investigation was opened against him as part of “procedure.” That said, it is unlikely that the Model S owner would be prosecuted as the local police department is considering giving him an award for his actions that ended with him saving a stranger’s life.

Naturally, the concept of fully autonomous has shed at least some light on the concern that cars could, in theory, go rogue and do things they aren’t intended to do. It doesn’t help that there have been many complaints of cars like the Tesla Model S, for example, choosing to accelerate on its own and smash into things. More recently, there was a Chevy Bolt owner that claimed his car magically turned on and smashed itself into a wall. Most of the reports of Tesla vehicles have been disproven and chalked off to owners trying to pass off blame for their own stupidity, but there is still a real fear there for some.

But, it doesn’t necessarily take self-driving technology for cars to go rogue. In the video you’re about to watch, which is mostly video from Russian dash cams, proves exactly that. Of course, most of them are the result of the owner not setting the parking brake, but there are a few that are quite questionable and look like the cars actually had a mind of their own. And, there’s a really weird clip at 6:08 that involves some creepy girl, a car, and a poor parking lot attendant that probably needed a fresh pair of boxers. You can try to make sense of that one when you see it, though.

With that said, go ahead and click play to enjoy 10 minutes of cars moving on their own.

Terrorists have again used a commercial semi truck to commit acts of mass violence, this time in Germany’s capital city of Berlin on December 19, 2016. The truck drove through a crowded town square full of people shopping the Christmas booths set up along a pedestrian area, killing 12 people and injuring 48 more. The act was done in a similar fashion as the truck attack in Nice, France on July 14, 2016.

The dozens of photos taken of the scene clearly show the horrific aftermath. Also clearly visible is the make of the semi truck. It is a Scania R450 with the R-Sleeper-Topline cab. Scania, a Swedish brand with a rich history, is 70-percent owned by Volkswagen and 17 percent owned by MAN, which itself is also heavily owned by Volkswagen.

The particular truck features a short wheelbase, and according to specifications on Scania’s website, likely has a 6×4 drive configuration, meaning the four rear tires drive the truck while the front tires only steer. The full-length trailer has six wheels, three on each side, and has canvas sides. The truck was reportedly stolen from the Polish trucking company Ariel Zurawski, named after its founder and current owner.

Reports say it was Zurawski’s cousin who was operating the truck on a route from Italy to Berlin when it was purportedly hijacked. Zurawski’s cousin was found shot to death inside the truck when authorities reached the scene. The hijacker has not been found. The truck was loaded with 25 tons of steel.

We will update this story if further details come to light regarding the truck.

It seems like there have been quite a few supercar accidents lately. There was that journalist in the new Acura NSX that supposedly crashed because of a bee, then, more recently, there was that McLaren 650 Spider that crashed in Southern California. And, let’s not forget about the Ferrari 488 GTB that was smashed up thanks to a jay-walking dog. Today, we’re talking about another 488 GTB, and this one has been declared a total loss. News-Gazette out of Champaign Illinois has reported that 18-year-old Lima Shen not only collided with a 2017 Volvo, but also hopped a curb, slid across 100 yards of grass, and ultimately came to a stop when it met the brick wall of a local barber shop.

There isn’t much information available about the accident at this time, but it has been reported that the owner of the barber shop is estimating at least $20,000 in damages while the 18-year-old owner of the GTB has learned an expensive lesson – one that’s set him back at least $245,000. Reports indicate that the driver had purchased the 488 GTB just weeks prior to the accident. Luckily, nobody was injured, but the driver has been cited for reckless driving and improper lane usage – apparently he saw The Fast and the Furious one too many times – and will be suffering from a bruised ego for quite some time.

You can really chalk this one off to another rich entitled kid who thought he was the man and failed miserably. Obviously, he had no business driving a vehicle with a 4.0-liter V-8 that has 659 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque. There’s no word on how fast the GTB was traveling when the accident occurred, but with the ability to hit 60 mph in around three seconds and a top speed of 205 mph, you can bet he was traveling well above the posted speed limit. After all, he did slide the length of a football field before smashing into that barbershop. Hopefully, Junior’s rich parents will think twice before buying their irresponsible child anything more powerful than a Toyota Camry.

Supercars are fast, good looking (well, most of them at least), cool, and can be seen as a solid investment, but all come with a major downside, no matter the badge. With all that oomph available at a simple push of the gas pedal, they tend to go wild and push you off the road, especially if you’re not paying close attention or lack the necessary skills to handle it. When that happens, not only do they require expensive repairs (given they can be salvaged, that is!), but the occupants need a bit of luck to survive. Fortunately, the Zonda you see in the photo didn’t claim the life of its driver, but the owner will have to make a serious investment to get it back on the road again.

The car in question is the Pagani Zonda Zozo, a supecar commissioned by Yusaku Maezawa, the owner of the Japanese online retailer Zozotown. According to GT Spirit, the purple Zonda was smashed on December 3 somewhere in Tokyo, losing its front hood in the process. Information as to what happened specifically is scant, but things don’t look that bad and it appears that the car’s cockpit is intact. This means the occupant(s) escaped unscathed, which is the best news we can have following a car accident. The Zonda, on the other hand, will require an expensive visit to Horacio Pagani’s shop.

Although the damage isn’t very extensive, it’s heartbreaking to see any Zonda like that, especially with most models being unique. The Zozo is one of them, being designed with partially covered rear wheels, an extra set of red taillights, and a bespoke purple paint that makes it stand out just about anywhere. Fixing the car shouldn’t be an issue for Pagani, which has rebuilt previous unique models in the past (the Zonda Fantasma and Absolute come to mind), and I guess it’s safe to assume that Maewaza can afford to spend some serious cash to get it running again.

Speaking of expenses, it appears that the Zonda collided with the Maybach 62S seen in the same image. Now that’s a multi-million-dollar car crash right there.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 now has competition in the iPhone 7 in a category that neither wants any part of. Less than two months after a Galaxy Note 7 caught fire and burned down a Jeep Grand Cherokee with it, a similar fate befell an iPhone 7 when it too reportedly exploded while sitting under a pile of clothes in the car of a surfer who was giving surf lessons at that time.

According to Yahoo News Australia, Mat Jones was shocked when he returned to his car, which at that point in time, was already filling up with smoke. It wasn’t mentioned how the situation was contained, but in the aftermath of the terrifying ordeal, Jones discovered the burned down remains of the iPhone 7 and a pair of pants that was still on fire at that time.

The young surfer claims that he had owned the iPhone 7 for barely a week and hadn’t dropped it or used a foreign charger since buying it. Now he has no phone and no car, a double whammy to the gut if there ever was one.

For its part, Apple has since caught wind of the incident and is currently investigating the cause of the fire. An official statement has yet to come out, but given the magnitude and the media coverage it has received, I expect the tech giant to come up with an explanation sooner than later. Hopefully, Jones gets a new iPhone 7 and car in the process.